i 




Class i^^^ 



HON. OrP;^"AiOET(3]S['S i 



c^^ 



TERRE HAUTE SPEECH, 



DELIVERED JULY 18, 1870, AT TERRE HAUTE. JXDIAXA. 



Ladies and OeTttlemen : 

I .<1ki1I bea^in \vh;it T imvo to say to-ni;2;lii 
IjY congratiilatins; tliis large aiulieiico and 
till' country upon the general eondiiion of 
]iro-pority that prevails lliroiiglioi;' oiii- 
latKl. 1 think I may say with perfect 
truth there never \^■as Itefore since our 
government wa^s formed a condition of 
>uc!i universal proi*i>erity as ]>rev:ii!s tl'.l.-, 
day. Every condition of society is pros- 
]>erou.s. There never was a tin»e A\hen 
lal)or was better revvardeil (haii it i^ nov,. 
or when the wages of lahoi- Avould jtur- 
cliast,' more of the necssarie*; and the 
luxuries of life than now. There never 
was a time when labor was so hono!"able 
as i'„ is now, and .so universall}' recoijnized 
•»s (lie •'oundation of all national growtli 
,ind prosix!rity. 

And a.s it h witli labor, so it is wit!i 
I'very other de};artment of tlie body jwli- 
tic. The mechanic, t!ie n)ercha4ii, t!ie 
inanufacturer. the professional mai; a.jd 
the capitali.st — all, to speak in general 
terai.s, are now llourl.shing — are now grow- 
ing apace a.s they Itave never done betbre. 
J u.-.' strong language, l)nt I am justilied 
in doing it. Look at t!ie prosperity of 
your own beautiful city. I am told it is 
growing more rapidly aiuJ actpiiring 
weait'i more rapidly than ever befoi'c. 
A ,1(1 as it is with Terrc Haute so it is with 
liidianapolis, and almost every town in 
llie SUvte of Indiana; and as i" is in Indi- 
ana .so it is in Ohio and tln-oughout oui' 
A\'lL0le countrj'. 

Now, of coarse, there are some persons 
wlio are in embarra:^sed circumstances, 
and always will be. There never was a 
ti ne, and there never will come a time, 
Av'.icn there is not some particular indus- 
try or some pacticular line of business 
xl'.at perhaps is suffering, as compared 
svltii otaers. But I am speaking !io\v c-" 
tiie mass-of the community and the genera! 
ea:idit!0:i of business ; and I desire to call 
vour attention to the great bles-ings by 
^•.;lici! j'ou are surrounded. Wiiether you 
looiv at the development of our country 
j:i't!i' West, th» growtii of oni- cities, tl;c 
iiuprovement of ou-r farms, the building of 
raiiroais and turnpike roads, an-J e.verv 



sijccies of public im])rovemcnt ; whether 
you look at the general consolidation of 
th.e business of the country — that it is nov,' 
placed upon solid foundations — that it is 
now escaping f?om that element of infla- 
tion and speculation which always disor- 
ders and in time will destroy business— 
bear in mind that the business of the coun- 
trj- i.-; settling down upon solid and endur- 
ing fouinlations, and that, though our ai>- 
parent i)rosperity may not be as great as 
when p/ices were higli and wlien there wa; 
a general spirit of sj)eculatiou — yet our 
j)rosperity now is steady ; it is onward ; it 
is regular. And I ap|teal to gentlemen of 
all parties to say if the thing ^^'e most de- 
sire and which Nve most need at tlie present 
time is not stability— stability in bu-sincss, 
stabilitv in tlie linances, .sta))ility in all 
those things that men must .study and un- 
dei>tand and calculate upon v.-lien engaged 
in individual enterprises, and imderstaad 
well what they shall do the next year or 
the next montli. 

CROAJCER.S AND OKUMBLERS. 

But, notwithstanding our unwonted 
prosperity and growth, tliere ai-e croakers, 
there aregnunblers; and there always v.il) 
be. You have sometimes si'cn men v/lio, 
when they were in perfect health, v.'ould 
strive to make everybody about them mis- 
erable by pretending tliat they \verc about 
to die. And so you will find politicians, 
in the midst of this great prosperity and 
tills great affluence, v/ho tell us the coiui- 
try is on tlie very brink of ruin— on the 
very eve of bankruptcy— and that if tliey 
are' not placed in power, or t'leir party, 
everything will go to destruction. Now 
you know these things arc not so, and 
there is no intelligent lady or gentleman 
here to-night — and I care not Avhat party 
t'.iev belong to— v/ho, if they will take a 
deliberate "su.rvay of the condition of this 
coniiiiunlty, of this State, antl of ikh na- 
tion-, v.'lii "ii«t corns to the conclusion that, 
as a iieopie, v.-e are more prosperous in t-iis 
year ^1370 than in any former jicriod of our 
national life. 

I spoke, o? stability ; .'ake, for (>xarapl',\ 



auTvin of course ; to use .-i common expros-j 
sioii, it ^voiild "go up like a rocket andi 
come iloun like i s^Lick." We -.voukl liavje! 
the same gloomy and terrible course to' 
travel again. ,Wc ;ire now approaching a I 
conditio;'- of .solid prosperity. Onr cnvren-; 
cy 'i.-\l-ai)idly bocoiaing good ; bu.t if we is-, 
sae iikG^ii or !5i?:tccnjiiindved millions ofj 
grec'-ibACks", tV) pay oCf these bonds, we! 
woviljii .first i-ob our' creditors, an.d then rob; 
IlK-yebplo by leavii!,^- tinsraoncyjn tiiciri 
hands s« depreciated Uiat it would take ai 
lia't Inll of it t<^ buy a i^at ; it migiitbehad,! 
as it wa.s'^in France, for a dollar a bushel. 

TIFE KEPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE ! 
TARIFF. i 

Pas'^iiig tVoni liiat, f conie now to the| 
(fiii'stion' of the taiitf. There is a greati 
deal said by Democratic politicians about: 
llielarifi. Wiiat is a tariff? Adiitylev-i 
ii'd ;;pon foreign goods imported into the- 
Ignited States. "^ \Ve have always had. a tar-j 
ilf in this eoimtry ever since the Govern-! 
meiVi was formed. It began with the ad-! 
minis;t ration of George Washington; and; 
befove the irnion was formed tlie several! 
States. !:ad their respective tai-ifls. Wej 
have ainays raised revenue by a tariff, and! 
;:.hviiys shall. It has been done under evc-j 
ry Htimiaistratidn. Wlien tise war camel 
Oil v/e could not raise enough money by a! 
tariff. We had to raise it by a tariff in! 
part. ^Ve have l)een reducing it as \ye 
could, but we still have to raise a hundred| 
and fifty-live or a hundred- and sixty-fivel 
million dollars a year by a tariff. Now if 
you abolish the ' tari T, "how will you get 
inoney to carry on the government ? , Will 
yon get it by direct taxiition ? Is th.e De- 
moci'atic party in favor of that? Certainly 
not ; nobody "is in favor of that. Then we 
must h.ave a tariff to get revenue. It is 
idle to talk about repealing it, unless you can 
carry on tlie Government without money. 

Then free trade is on.t of tlie question ; 
wlien a man talks about it he talks about 
;i tiling that is impossible. I do not care 
in wluit manner yon adjust the tariff, if 
you have a tariff at all it will aflbrd some 
protection ; yon must have a tariff for 
revenue, and free trade is out of the ques- 
tion as long as you have a tariff. j 

THE VARlOrS KINDS OF TARIFF. j 

Tiiere are several kinds of tariff. IMierc 
is what is called a prohibitory tariff— that! 
is an obsolete idea, i laiow of nobody 
who iiiii favor of it. Then there is a tar- 
i if for protection merely that differs but 
litUc from a prohlbitoiy tariff in principle ; 
tliat is not the kind of tariff that we vv-ant. 
lint as a tariff I'or revenue will afford some 
protection, and as we must have a tariff for 
revenue, we propose thi^t Ure protection 
.shall result in favor of our own producers, 
and not in iiivor of foreign produc(;rs. 

There are two or tlu-ec ways of levying 



a tariff. One way, advocated by Mr. Kerr, 
is to levy it liighcst upon .articles that v/e 
do not produce at all, such as ter., sjigar 
and coffee. If you do that, of course it 
must come lightest upon articles that vc 
do produce in 6ompetition with foreign 
countries, so as to attbrd to our own pia- 
dueers the least possible protection aral 
encouragement. 

There is auother plan called theliorizon- 
tal tariff, v/hich is levied at an equal rate 
I of i)er cent, on all articles without regard 
to wliether tlieyare lu.Kuries or necessaries. 
It has been said to be a tariff of strict neu- 
trality between the home producer andtl^e 
foreign produ.cer. If you flunk that neu- 
trality in that respect between home pro- 
ducers atid foi'cign producers should pre- 
vail, llieu 3'ou VkOuld be in favor of the 
horizontal tariff; but there ai-e very few 
people V, ho are in favor of that. In levy- 
ing a tariff" for revenue, we should in the 
first place put the tax higher upon luxuries 
tlian upon necessaries, and tiien, if there 
must be a disci-imination, let it be in fa-ior 
of our home producers. 

Then there is another method of levying 
a tariff; put it lovvcst on articles tliat we- 
do not produce, <uid higher upon articles 
that we do produce, so that there shall be 
at all tinges a fair and equal competition, 
between the foreign and tiie home pro- 
ducer. If yon make it a prohibitory tari:i 
you get no revenue by it. If you put it 
below liie point of competition you get 
veveup.e only, and give the market over to 
the foreign producei'. We do not want a 
prohibitory tariti'; we do not want to make 
a monopoiy iiere ; but as you must iiave a 
tariff, how should you levy it? I say put 
it at a point that will afford a fair competi- 
tion between the home and foreign pro- 
ducer. That brings you revenue because 
there is competitio"n, and competition im- 
plies foreign importation. That gives rev- 
enue, and at the same time builds up you; 
own home producers, home manufactui-er- 
and home labor. I am forprolecting honv 
labor as far as it can be done legitimately, 
I do not want to see the laboring men <; 
this country working for the same price- 
that the working nien of Great Britain 
France and Germany command. Labor i- 
higher in tiiis country than it is in tli- 
countries of Europe, and I hope and e::- 
pect to see it maintained, and vvhen Vv( 
can legitimately protect and encourage oui 
own labor, I am in favor of doing it. Eti! 
I do not want anybody to say because l sa;.- 
this that I am in favor of a prohibitor;, 
tariff, or a protective tariff, in the offensivi 
sense in whicli tlie term is used ; but wi^.al 
I say is, we have got to have a tariff. I d.. 
not care how miich Democrats may bawl 
in favor of Free Trade ; ^ve must have a 
tariff, l)ecause we have to carry on the Gov- 
ernment, and cannot do it without money, 
and as we must have a tariff I want it so 



adjusted as to diseriininate in favor of the 
honif, producer, liot th-e foreign producer. 

A HOME MARKET. 

Another thing right here : I am in lavor 
of huilding up a licms market. 1 tiiinlc 
tiiere arc some farmers here to-night, and 
I want to say to them that it is better for 
tiiem to sell tiieir wheat at $1 50 per bushel 
in Terre Haute, tlian it is to sell it at $1 SO 
per busliel in New Yorlc ami then Jiave to 
pay for its transportation to I/iverpool, 
Brest, or some other European port. What 
is the fact? i see here beiiind me a distin-j 
giiished j-aijroad man ; 1 state it as a gen-| 
eral proposition, and I thlnlv I am not far 
out o£ the way, tliat it wilital:e one bushe! 
out of tiu-ee, or very nearly that, to send 
your v,i:eat to New York, and then it will' 
cost a good deal to get it from New Yorkj 
to Li\erpool. Y.r. .McKeen. am I not 
riglUr' (The gentleman addj-essed, W. R. 
Jlelveen, Esq., President of the Terre 
Haute, Vandalia <fc St. Louis Railroad, re- 
plied that the speaker's estimate was cor- 
rect.) Now, you ait! in pursuit of a foreign 
market, recollect. When it comes to corn, 
I guess it takes nearly one bushel to send 
the other to New York ; a!id tljcn if you 
go in searcli of a foreign market, which 
some gentlemen are so fond of, you have to 
pay the additional cost of transportation 
across tiie Atlantic. iSo t!;at it is to our 
interest to have our uiarket at home. !t 
is to our interest to i^ave all kinds of indus- 
try and all kinds of maiuifactrires. I do 
not waut to create a monopoly ; I have 
stated my principles ; but I say boldly here 
that it is to op.r interest to have as many 
ditfei-ynt nianufactrLTCs as we can. Do you 
think everybody ought to be farmers"? If 
everybody were larmers, then the farmers 
would have no market. No, it is not the 
interest of these gentlemen who are en- 
gaged iu forming to have everybody farm- 
ers •, it is our interest to have diversified 
pursuits ; it is our interest to manufacture, 
as far as we can, what we need, and that 
the men who manufacture buy wh.at the 
larmer lias to sell and sell to the farmer 
what lie wants. Will any man dispute the 
soundness of these principles? And yet 
souio politicians will come before tiie coim- 
try and argue as if there was no honorable 
pursuit but farming, 'i'hey want to tlatter 
tlie farmers, but farmers have too much In- 
telligence and good sense to be deceived by 
them. They knov/ their interest is to iiavt 
a good market for their produce, and to 
have it as near home as possible. And one 
great desideratu.m that we have now to 
look to is cheap transpoi'tatLon to the East- 
ern cities. We have got to have it, and we 
arc going to try. 

The nearer you can hvhig the market 
at home to the farmer, the better for the 
farmer, and the better for all classes of 
people. 



WISDOM AND STATES?.IANSHII' OF KE- 
PUBLICAN LEGlvSLATION. 

They tell you a great many articles iw 
taxed. Of course tiiey arc.^ This tarifi 
must fall on something. You cannot 
take in a hundred and sixty millions oi.' 
dollars of revenue every year unless you 
tax nearly everything more or less; but Vv'" 
iiave been reducing tiiese taxes, I want to 
state to yon— aitho'.'igh you are doubtless 
already i'amiliar witii it — what has re- 
cently occurred in Congress. "We have 
passed a bill to reduce taxation, and by 
that bill have i'ednce<l taxation to tiie 
amou.nt of eighty million dollars. Now 
reducing taxes eigiity million dollars is 
worth a great many Democratic speeches 
and a great many Democratic arguments. 
There is a great fact. 'vVe have just re- 
pealed fiity-seven millions of internal 
taxes, and at the same time reduced the 
tarifi' twenty-three millions. We could 
not come down altogether ; we came 
tiow'u as low as we could to raise the 
necessary amount of money to eaiuy on 
the Government, but we have, by means 
of certain great improvements in the ad- 
ministration, been enabletl within the 
last fifteen days to repeal eighty mUlious 
of taxes. IIovv h.ave we ilone that? First, 
we have repealed all, or nearlv all, the in- 
ternal taxes, except those oil whisky and 
tobacco and tiie sales of whisky and to- 
bacco — all tl:e re«t witii the exception of 
stamps. We iiave abolished stamps put 
on receipts, which are a vexation to th(.' 
people, and Ave have abolished stamps oit 
all notes under one iiuiulred iloUars. We 
have broagiit dov/n this icind of taxation, 
to the lowest point that we could, and 
nearly all that is left of it is ou tobacco 
and whisky. A thousand other little 
taxes, that had to be levied during t!u' 
war, we have now swept away. 



REFORM .'VXD 



EQUALrZATIOX 
TARIFF. 



OF 



r 

THIS 



Well, how about tJic tariff? We have 
taken off tvventy-tiiree millions from the; 
tariff. On wliat? Principally on tea, cof- 
fee, and sugar, those three great necessa- 
ries of life, that are consumed by every 
family in this country, and consumed not 
according to their ^vcaltli but according 
to their number. The laboring man — the 
man in every condition of life must have 
his tea, cotiee, and sugar. Wa have re- 
duced the tax on tea from twenty-five 
cents to fifteen cents per poiuid; ou cof- 
fee from five cents to three cents per,« 
pound. We have taken three cents per 
pound off sugar, or 33 per cent, of the en- 
tire tariff. 

We have rediieed the duty on pig iron 
from $9 to $7 per ton, bringing it down to 
i'Jie point where we think tiiere will be a 
fair competition between the home and for- 
eign prodi'.cer. A great many articles w** 



havL" put on the free li^st, upo:i which there 
"was a small (hit)'. So thls-Congrcs?. tbat 
has boon so much abused and ti-aduocd, 
has reduced yonr taxes eiglity millions of 
dollars. In the presence of a ft-rand re- 
sult of this kind all little petty grumblings, 
<'arpings, and fanlt-timJings disappear. 
Here is a great event, a grand result. 
And it was brought about by the Republi- 
can party, and without the aid of tlie 
Democratic party. 

DKIVTOGKATS VOTE AGAINST KKDUCED 

TAXES. 

^ow, I Avaut to call your attention to- 
the tact that, notwithstanding our Demo- 
cratic friends are complaining continually 
abouc the tarhf, not one of tiu-m, in either 
braac'i of Congress, voted for this bill tliat 
a-oduced taxation eighty miliions of dol- 
lar.? — not one of them. The Avork has 
been done, but they did not do it ; it has 
been done by the Republican party in Con- 
gress. Some of j'ou will wonder at that — 
that these Democratic politicians, who 
have been talking so earnestlj'' about the 
burden of taxation, when brought to the 
tost not 6ne of them v/ould vote for the 
hill upon its final passage ! The most of 
them voted agauist it, and some of them 
dodged; but if j:here is one man that voted 
for it I do not know it. 

DEMOCRATIC HYPOCRISY. 

The Democrats in State Convention, in 
January last, resolved that tea, coft'ee, 
ivnd sugar should be put ou the free list. 
Those great necessaries of life, v,'e could 
not do without a tax upon them. We 
liave got to have the one hundred and 
sixty millions of revenue, and although 
w'C put as much ou luxuries as v.'e can, 
wc cannot put it all there ; tiicre are not 
enough of them. We must pay some- 
thing bn our tea. coffee, and sugar, and in 
fact Oil nearly everything else. It takes a 
great many taxes to make a hundred and 
sixty millions of dollars. These Demo- 
crats v/anted the tax taken ofl' from those 
articles; they wanted tea, coffee, and sugar 
put on the free list, but vrhon the time for 
voting came not one of them voted for tlie 
bill. To show you how perfectly hollow 
and hypocritical are all these DL-mocratic 
professions, I refer you to this vote on the 
liual passage of that bill. There is the 
test. One vote in favor of reducing taxa- 
tion is worth a hundred speeches in favor 
of i:. They have mad?^ hundreds of 
speeches, but when the time came to vote 
they either voted the other way, or were 
not there. 

I read an extract from the Xew York 
World, one of the leading Democraric 
pape;-s in the United States, and by all 
odJs the ablest. This is of recent date, 
witiihi the last ten days ; it is commentiag 
on this bill that I was ,ju.st speaking of: 



'"The proposal of the 'tail tarlftV as it 
is now called, from the fact of its having 
been tucked on the end of the internal tax 
bill, was a shrewd move on Schenck's ',)art. 
By ofl'ering a measure for tire dimiuucion 
of taxation — though the reductions them- 
selves were made in the most objectionable 
waj% vi/ : mainly upon tea, coifee. and 
sugar — Schcnck was able to secure the Re- 
publican vote for his bill. The Republi- 
can revenue reformers know tiiat they 
could not face their constituents without 
having reduced taxation, and at this late 
period in t!ie session no measui-e for the 
purpose other than tJiat before them was 
possible." 

V/KAT ACTUATES THE DE?IOCHATIG 
PARTY. 

What is the trouble with our Demo- 
cratic friends ? I v.-'ll teilyou. They have 
but one rule of action practically, as 
tho ugh they have theoretically othor;- 
and that is to oppose whatever the Re- 
publican party does. When wc proposcl 
to reduce the tax on one article, they 
want it reduced oh the other, but when 
we come to the other then they say it's 
the t'other. And so we can ncAcr get to 
that article upon which they are willing 
to reduc3 taxatior^. After their ciamor'ng 
about the taritT on iron, as they have been 
for years, v/hen we proposed in this bill 
to bring down the tariff from $9 to $7 per 
ton, the bill that contained that reduction 
never secured a single Democratic vote. 
No, these arc not the articles they vrant 
the taxes reduced on. They are in favor 
of reduction on everything except the ar- 
ticles contained in the bill. We have. 
selected those things that wc thought most 
important for tlie great mass of the 
nation, and especiailj^for the poor people 
and the laboring part of the community, 
because the wealthy can alv,'ays take care 
of themselves. We have selected these 
articles and reduced the tax on them, but 
yet we were not able to secure the aid of a 
single Democratic momber in cither Hoa>e. 

OUR GREAT FIXANX'IAL MEASURES. 

I come now to the Funding Bill. Wc 
have passed a Funding Bill. What is 
that? We mean by a Funding Bill, a bill 
by which we will be able to reduce t!ic 
rate of iatere^t on the public debt. Our 
bonds now draw six per cent, and five per 
cent. We could not get money at any 
less rate during the war, but the time is 
come now when we think we can borrow 
money at lower rates. How do we pro- 
pose to do it? Not by violating the con- 
tract by trying to swindle our creditors — 
the men who loaned their money to tiie 
Government — but by an honest aad lagiti- 
mato method, such as hij been practiced 
by every honorable government in the 
world. Wc passed a bill authorizing the 
Goveraaieat to issue three kinds of new 



bonds. First, bonds to the amount of 
two hundred millions, drawing five per 
cent. ; second, bonds to tiie amount of two 
hundred millions, drawing 4i per cent. ; 
thin], bonds to the amount of one thou- 
sand millions, drawing four per cen.t. AVe 
aatiiorized oar Secretary to sell these 
bonds, if he can, at par.- If lie can sell a 
bond at par that draws only four per cent, 
interest, then he can take the money he 
gets for that bond and buy Avith it another 
bond that draws six per cent., and thus 
save to the Government two per cent, per 
annum. If he sells a bond drawing four 
and a half per cent., and buys a bond of 
like amount drawing six, he saves to the 
Government one and a half per cc;!t. per 
annum. Tiiat is v.-hat we call fmiding the 
debt, and we propose to put the debt into 
new bonds that draw a lower rate of inter- 
est, by wliich vrc caii save from U^n to 
> twenty millions per annum. Do you not 
think that is a good purpose — an honorable 
and an honest purpose? We have been 
trying to get such a bill for two yeai-s. 
We have got one secured ; it is signed : it 
is the law of the land to-night. And yet 
this bill could not secure the vote, so far 
as I know, of a single Democrat, although 
they have been complaining so much about 
the great burden of interest the people are 
paying. They complained about our pay- 
ing interest. 'J'hey want to stop the inter- 
est by uajing olf the bonds in irredeema- 
ble paper money, but when we get an hon- 
est, honorable ai\(l proper method of put- 
ting down this interest, and reducing the 
expenses of the Government, it was not 
able t6 secure the vote of a single Demo- 
cratic member or Senator. No. They 
talk .about these things, but Avhen the time 
for action come.s — when the time to acom- 
plisl'. it comes — they are jiot thei-o. 

So m,uch, then, in regard to the Fuiuling 
bill. We expect that we shall 'fund this 
debt. We expect that we siiall be able to 
sell low priced bonds, and buy up those 
• bearing a%iigher rate of interest, and thus 
save millions every year, until the wiiole 
debt is finally funded, and the money thus 
eaved in the way of interest can be applied 
to the payment of the bonds. 

RDPUBLICAN HONESTY — GRANT'S AND 

JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATIONS 

CONTRASTED. 

Now, the question may present itself to 
yeiir mind, how is it that we have been 
able to repeal eighty millions of taxes ? 
Why was that not done before? You 
have liad a Republican Congress all the 
time ; w-hy could you not do it before ? I 
will teil you. We have had a Republican 
Congress, but not a Republican Adminis- 
trat'ion until the last sixteen months. The 
last three and a 'lalf years of President 
.'oliuson's administration was as thorough- 
iV Democratic as was th.at of J.am€s Bu- 



chanan or Franklin Pierce. 1 want to tell 
you how we are able at this time to repeal 
eighty millions of taxes, and still have sur- 
plus money coming into the Treasury. 
First, by cconomj' — by reducing the ex- 
penses of the Government, and wc reduced 
them, as compared with President John- 
son's administration, over fifty millions or 
dollars. They have been curtailed b.ere, 
and curtailed there, .md in the other place, 
and the expenses of tiic Government hav(>, 
been greatly reduced. Then we liave 
gained a large .amount in another way — 
by the honest collection of the revenu.e. [ 
wish to show you a statement I obtained 
from the S-.^cretary of the Treasury only 
three or four days ago. I sav.- Mr. Bout- 
well the day I started from AV'ashington, 
and asked him to send me a statement, 
over his own signatm-e, as to the amount 
of the gain by the honest collection of th(; 
revenue since General Grant came into 
power. Here it is, aiul I shall read it to 
you : 

''Treasury Department, 
Washington, D. C, Jidy (5th, 1870. 
Hon. 0. P. Morion : 

In reply to your verbal inquiry I ijavc 
the honor to state tha.t there has been an 
increase of thirty-two millions six hundred, 
and seventy-live thousand dollars in the 
Internal Revenue receipts during the iu'st 
sixteen montlre of President Grant's ad- 
ministration, as compared with the last 
sixteen months of President Johnson's 
administiation." 

There, yoo have it. On the same rate of 
taxation — even with less, because binder 
Johnson's administration the tax on v/his- 
ky \va3 two dollars per gallon, while it is 
now fifty cents per gallon, Ave have an \n- 
crease of more than thirty-two millions in 
tlie receipts of Internal Revenue in sixteen 
months. Mr. Boutweil goes on : 

"And an increase of nineteen millions 
four iiunch'ed and six tliousand nine hun- 
dred and tifty-three dollars in custom du- 
ties for the same period and upon the same 
comparison, making an aggregate of fifty- 
one millions four hundretl and eight thous- 
and six hun(h-ed and ninety dollars." 

Just resulting fi'om an honest adminis- 
ti-atlon ! "VVihen you add this to what v/u 
jhave gained in the way of economy by re- 
iducing the expenditures, you will undor- 
I stand how wo are able to reduce taxation 
I eighty millions of dollars by one single blow. 
! L read again from iiis statement : "Tiu' 
decrease of the public debt for the last 
sixteen months is one liundred and thirty- 
nine millions one hundred and four thous- 
and six hundred and sixty dollars." 

THE WAR DEBT MELTING AWAY. 

Since Grant came into power, and up to 
the oth day of July, nearly one hundred 
and forty millions of the i)ul>lio debt have 



boon paid off. and 1 1'.avo just got a dis- 
liatcli showins; (hat iij) to to-night the pub- 
lic (lol)t Avill have beeu ?-educed over one 
liiiiidred and Ibrtj^-six millions since Gen- 
fi-al (Jrant came into pov/er, while during 
the hist sixteen nionth;^ of President John- 
son being in jiower only eight millions of 
reduction was made, or a little over; cer- 
i;iiiil.V less llian nine millions. At this 
rate the public debt will b? paid off in less 
I iian fifteen years. It is true you have all 
been ground down by taxation ; all perish- 
ing with it. You are all })Oor, badly dres- 
sed and half starved, as you ali know ; but 
Avc have paid off" nearly a lunidi-eu and for- 
ty millions of tJiis debt since Grant came 
into power. 

Here is another great re;5uit. Ls it not 
better to pay off the debt in this way than 
to attempt to s\«-invlle tiie creditors out of 
it by using irredeemable paper ibr the 
whole amount.-' To hnw. them lose the 
debt and the jieople lose the currency? 
And nobody gain an3'tliing by it but the 
SA\indlers and shavers? I say. in the 
l)resenee of these great i-esnits, all Demo- 
cratic arguments fall to the ground, and 
come to nothing. 

And what has been done in these .six- 
teen mouths will be increased iu the next 
.sixteen months. The administration is 
getting better uioutli after month, and will 
get better year after j'car. The machinery 
is only fairly in operation now. 

TtiE TRUE "'labor" PARTY OI-' THE 
COUNTRY. 
I .said the Republican piirty is the great 
labor party of the country, and so it is. 
Another thing: it is tlie great reform 
]»arty of this country. We have made 
the greatest reforms that ever were made, 
and .shall continue to make them ; but 
we only do one big thing at a time. Peo- 
lile that undertake to do everything at 
onco, nearly always fail as to e\erj-thing. 
You can see how we have ad\anced .step 
by step, until fche country is brought to its 
j)ivsent condition. There are other great 
reforms to be accomplished, and the Ke- 
l)ublicau party is the party to do it. I tellj 
my friends if they want i-eform to stay 
with that party (iiat lias made reforms, 
"and that is imbued Avitli the spirit of re- 
farm r.ow. Somehow or other, whei:iever 
a man fails to get an office that he wants, 
I','.' i.-^ \ery apt to become a reformer. He 
discovers all at once that he is taxed to 
<]eath. It may turn out, upon inquiry, 
1!;at he never paid a dollar poll tax in his 
lil'f. lie becomes ail at once greviously 
()::p!-c^sed and adUcted by taxation. The 
i;r;-'.!l)lican party eatsiot give all it? hon- 
.>r;'.b;c memb'-!rs oltic;'.^, nor one in a 
ioi!>and of tiiem. T'.ie party was not 



created for the purpose of creating offices, 
but was created for the benefit of the 
nation, and whenever it ceases to be for 
the benefit of the nation it siiould be d!-- 
solved. No party should live an hour 
long-er; aiid wiienever t!;e Iteijublican 
party becomes corrupt and demoralized, 
and ceases to be a reform i)arty. it is iiigh 
time for it to give v.ay (o some other 
party ; not the Democratic ])arty ; oh no ! 
but for some nev>- part}" that v^ ill come 
^vith reform in its hands, and do tho.^e 
things that it has failed to do. 

DUTY Oi'^ EVERY i'ATRfOT. 

The old saying is: ••Praii-e the bridge 
that carries you safely over." Stiuid by 
the party that saved the country in the 
dark hours of t!ie i-ebci'lioa ; that abol- 
ished slavery. Stand by the party that 
will restoi'c iJtability and solid business 
foundations; tiie party tiiat has given to 
this coinitry a prosperity and glory it iias 
never liad " before. Stand by that party, 
and in so doing you will stand l)y the Re- 
publican party. 

The Republican party has not \kv- 
formed its uii.ssion — not until tlie work o'' 
reconstruction is completcHl. Nov.- wc 
have admitted all the States. Georgia 
has been admitted; she lias taken her 
place once more ia the Union ; she has 
been admitted upon cori-eot i>riiicii)les. 
upon principles tliAt I contended fui- 
throughout this session of Congress, a.nd 
for the advoc:ioy of wliicli I received some 
censure. The wovli. of ivconstrnciiou is 
i^erfect and complete so f.ir as that i> on- 
ceriied, I)ut there is much to do yet in tho 
^Southern States. There is a dwp fef ling 
of hostility to Union men on tiie t'"' ^•'" 
rebels yet, and esix'clally to tlie cokH-ed 
men that Isavo l)eeu enfranchised. V,\' 
have got to rake care of tiiose jx'wplc. ^'W' 
are bound to take care of tiie Union nieii 
of t!ic South, and we will do 1'. Tlie 
Republican {)arty is committed to that iu 
lionor ; to the payment of the national 
debt, and tiso pret'iervation of the ccd.'; 
of the luition; and for other irasous I 
might mention, but iiave not time, (!)e 
Republican party siiould be preservetl. 

I thank you kindly for your attention. 
I have endeavored to speak to yoti plaiidy 
and freely, and in conclusion i exhort you 
not to be governed by the prejudices of 
party, but to stand "by those men and 
those principles tliat ha\e ]:)reservcd, fos- 
tered, and maintained yo:u- intercsU politi- 
cally, ix^cuniarlly, and i;i vyi^ry r.o'mt of 
view. 

I claim t!iat this has been do:i'.' I)y the 
Republican party of this nation, and I a>k 
you, therefore, to continue to give it your 
support , 



riibllshedhy \ 
•i) -iiM , 



Rcnublhan Congressional Committee, "VYashingLon, D, C. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



'III III niiiiillilijiiilliiijj, 

013 786 592 ^ 



